One of the things that struck me when I was in Lashio was the media, or rather its apparent freedom.

The first thing I did when I was shown into my room at the hotel was turning on the television for the latest news. And the Democratic Voice of Burma’s TV program greeted me right away with reports from Letpadaung.

Since then, nor matter what time I returned to the room, the DVB was there with news that had taken place during the last 24 hours, both home and international.

Papers being sold at the nearby bookstore also did not lack reports that were sure to be censored during the heydays of the now defunct Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD):

• The beating up of a traffic policeman San Thein Htwe by retired Senior General Than Shwe’s grandson (his name however was not mentioned) for unsatisfactory service. The victim, probably wisely, chose not to open up a case against the perpetrator. “I’m concerned only in one thing: that I don’t come in harm’s way,” he said.
• The book about a Shan prince who mysteriously disappeared following the military coup while under custody in Ba Htoo Myo, the military town set up in southern Shan State. The original, Twilight Over Burma: My life as a Shan Princess, a bestseller, was published in 1994 by his widow Inge Sargent.

The fruits of freedom, one may rightly say. But, at the same time, one should not forget that restrictive laws against the media are yet to be removed, despite repeated calls by the media. One can therefore count oneself lucky to get away with it while the period of Grace (or Honeymoon) is still on. The axe in the meanwhile may fall at anytime and the best advice to be on one’s toes at all time.

Like the shop keeper. He whispered whether I wanted the two-volume History of Kyat-Pyay (the former name of Naypyitaw) published by the Network for Democracy and Development (NDD). When I replied in the affirmative, I was handed a Xeroxed copy of the publication, wrapped up to prevent curious eyes from watching.

He was certainly a strict follower of the old Burmese saying: Sati (discretion) can never be in excess. It can only be in shortage.

That, I wholeheartedly support, should be one of the media’s guidelines as it struggles from censorship to freedom.